Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 -1829)

Francis Henry Egerton was the younger son of John Egerton, Bishop of Durham, and Anne Sophia Grey, daughter of Henry, Duke of Kent. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated 27 March 1773, age 16, and took his B.A. in 1776. He transferred to All Souls College, Oxford, taking his M.A. and holy orders in 1780, and was presented to the Rectory of Middle in Shropshire in 1781 and that of Whitchurch in the same county in 1797. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1780 and of the Society of Antiquaries in 1791. A respectable classical scholar, he published an edition of Euripides' Hippolytus and two odes of Sappho. A Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, on the death of his elder brother in 1823, he became Earl of Bridgewater. He lived for many years in Paris, in a house full of cats and dogs. Two of his dogs regularly ate at his table, and all were dressed in clothes as human beings. When he grew too feeble to leave his house, he kept rabbits and pigeons with clipped wings in the garden, which he used to shoot for the table. When he died he left a large sum to be employed on the Bridgewater Treatises, a series of books on the goodness of God as manifest in the creation, a subject on which he himself had written. He left his extensive collection of manuscripts to the British Museum, with a legacy of £11,000 to pay for a custodian and additions to the collection.

Seat / Residence(s): Ashridge House, Hertfordshire
Stamp(s) Stamp Information
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 1) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 1)
Arms: Quarterly 1 & 4. A lion rampant between three pheons (Egerton) 2. Quarterly France and England (Mary, daughter of Henry VII) 3. Barry of six (Grey)
Motto: Dieu et mon honneur
Supporters: Dexter A lion and Sinister A horse ducally gorged
Dimensions (height x width): 69mm x 59mm
Quarterings: 1 & 4. A lion rampant between three pheons (Egerton) 2. Quarterly France and England (Mary, daughter of Henry VII) 3. Barry of six (Grey)
Coronet: Prince of the Holy Roman Empire
Heraldic Charges: barry (6), Heraldic Charges: France and England, Heraldic Charges: lion rampant, Heraldic Charges: pheons (3)
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 2) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 2)
Arms: A lion rampant between three pheons (Egerton)
Dimensions (height x width): 47mm x 42mm
Coronet: Prince of the Holy Roman Empire
Impalement: Barry of six (Grey)
Heraldic Charges: barry (6), Heraldic Charges: lion rampant, Heraldic Charges: pheons (3)
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 3) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 3)
Arms: Quarterly 1 & 4. A lion rampant between three pheons (Egerton) 2. Quarterly France and England (Mary, daughter of Henry VII) 3. Barry of six (Grey)
Dimensions (height x width): 24mm x 33mm
Heraldic Charges: barry (6), Heraldic Charges: lion rampant, Heraldic Charges: pheons (3)
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 4) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 4)
Crest: On a chapeau turned up ermine a lion rampant supporting an arrow in pale point downwards
Dimensions (height x width): 73mm x 35mm
Coronet: Earl
Heraldic Charges: arrow, Heraldic Charges: lion rampant
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 5) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 5)
Crest: On a chapeau turned up ermine a lion rampant supporting an arrow in pale point downwards
Dimensions (height x width): 68mm x 32mm
Coronet: Earl
Heraldic Charges: arrow, Heraldic Charges: lion rampant
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 6) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 6)
Crest: On a chapeau turned up ermine a lion rampant supporting an arrow in pale point downwards
Dimensions (height x width): 37mm x 18mm
Coronet: Earl
Heraldic Charges: arrow, Heraldic Charges: lion rampant
Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 7) Title: Egerton, Francis Henry, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756 - 1829) (Stamp 7)
Crest: On a chapeau (reversed) turned up ermine a lion rampant supporting an arrow in pale point downwards
Dimensions (height x width): 28mm x 12mm
Coronet: Prince of the Holy Roman Empire
Heraldic Charges: arrow, Heraldic Charges: lion rampant